The Sweetness of Revenge
by Wickedly-Wonderful
Summary: Eragon may have thought Yazuac was a city of the dead, but there was a survivor. Nakia is still alive, and she wants revenge. PG just incase.
1. One Survivor

**Just kinda popped into my head. This takes place in Yazuac, shortly after Eragon and Brom leave, finding it empty and dead. Enjoy!**

Nakia waited, petrified. She cowered in the corner of her root cellar. Everything that had just happend flashed through her mind like a bad horror movie (although movies didn't even exsist then...).

_It had just been a normal day in Yazuac. Nakia had been helping her mother in the store. And then there was a distinct screaming outside and everybody began running. Nakia and her mother rushed out into the street, as did everybody else, to see what was going on. What Nakia saw was so terrifying, she just stood there in shock. An army of Urgals were charging down the street, killing everybody in sight, some invading homes, where shrills erupted, and then silence fell, assuring outsiders that the occupents were dead. _

_"Go inside the root cellar, Nakia!" shouted her mother. Nakia didn't fully understand, still in shock of what was happening. When she didn't move her mother began screaming. "GO! NOW! Stay there! Do not come out, I am going to get your father." And then she sprinted down the street toward the blacksmith's shop where Nakia's father worked. _

_Nakia ran back inside her home and crawled into the root cellar as her mother instructed her. She crawled into a corner and waited for her mother..._

Nakia's mother never came back. For hours she waited inside the root cellar, bitting down on her nails. She was tortured by listening to the screams and crying of people out in the street being killed, and then for awhile all fell silent. She listend carefully and after awhile, heard the hoves of horses riding into town and heard two people talking. Then what sounded like more Urgals attacked them. Then something else came, roaring loudly. Nakia had no idea what it was, and still sat terrified. After awhile the commotion died down and she could hear the people galloping off.

_Help me.._She said silently to herself She waited in the root cellar, obeying her mother's command to stay until she returned, but an hour after the mysterious riders left, she made herself stand up and crack open the root cellar. She looked into the shop and out the window. Nobody was out in the streets. Nothing moved. It was completely silent. She then pulled herself out of the root cellar and ventured out of the shop. She wandered around the abandoned town until she made it to the town square. Nakia gasped at what she saw, and then a wave of nausea hit her and she threw up. After she was done she stood up and walked closer.

Sitting in the middle of the town was a pile of dead bodies. Elders, babies, kids, everybody. Nakia circled the pile, but when she made it to the opposite side she gasped and nearly fainted. Shoved in the pile she saw her mother's angelic face, and next to her was her father. Tears flowed from Nakia's eyes and she fell to her knees infront of them. They had done nothing wrong. They had lead good, respectable lives, but they were killed viciously. After mourning, Nakia tore herself away from the pile of the dead and searched the town. She went through every house, praying that she would find another survivor. But she found no one. Not one person in the whole city was left alive. Nakia dropped to the ground an dbegan to cry, feeling so alone, so empty inside. All of her friends, her family, everybody was dead. She had no one. She was truly alone in the world.

After a couple hours Nakia pulled herself together, and came to a decision. She had to get out of Yazuac. She needed to be anywhere but here, city of the dead. So she stood back up and wiped away her tears. She walked back to her house and picked up a leather pack. After finding it, she went into the kitchen to see what food they had. She packed a couple loaves of bread, and some other provisions, and also grabbed a few waterskins. She then opend up a cupboard and took a few blankets and a map of Alagaesia and shoved them in her pack. Ten minutes later she found herself at the gates of Yazuac, looking back at the town she was about to leave behind. Once again, tears came to her eyes, but she wiped them away. She said a quick prayer to herself for the people who had died, and prayed for saftey. She was only 14 and was about to take the adventure of a lifetime. She turned around and faced the outsides of Yazuac. Stepping out of the gates, her journey began.

**I know that was a pretty short chapter, but it's kinda more like a prologe, so you know what the story's gonna be like. Hope you guys liked it! Please review!**


	2. When Dreams Become Reality

Nakia had only gotten a few leages away from home when she had to rest. The sun would be setting soon, and she hadn't aten sense she left. So she built a fire and cooked some meat she had brought and ate some of the bread. After she was full, she put out the fire and layed her blankets out so she could rest. As she layed down and starred up at the stars, she began to worry.

What was she thinking? Just leaving, no place to go, no money, and no sword or bow and arror. How would she hunt? And she couldn't buy food. Sooner or later she would run out of provisions. But of corse, what were her other options? Stay in Yazuac? Wake up to all the dead bodies everyday? She burried her face in her hands. What would she do? She stayed up all night trying to think of her options, but nothing came to her. She eventually fell into a fitfull sleep.

She woke up the next morning sore and depressed. Before she left that morning, she decided to choose where to go. After considering her options her finally settled on headed towards Uru'Baen, and when she got there, she would complain to the King. He was sure to do something about the Urgals, and bring justice to the death of her loved ones. So she took her map of Alagaesia and started planning a path. After severel minutes of studying the map she decided that she should first head to Daret and see if she could salvage any provisions and, although it was against her morals, steal a horse, if possible. There was no way she could walk all the way to Uru"Baen. After she left Daret, she could head along the Ramr River until she reached Uru'Baen. Satisfied, she rolled up the map, stuffed it in her pack, and began walking south, toward Daret.

Nakia soon found walking very boring. By the time she stopped to sleep her legs were exhausted and she was starving. So she cooked up more meat, shoveled it down and headed off to bed.

That night Nakia had strange dreams of being strangled by Urgals, and then suddenly one of the Urgals tried to stab her with a knife when an arrow appeared out of no where, killing the Urgal. Nakia immediatly stood up, soaked in sweat from her nightmere. When she woke up, though, she found about three Urgals fleeing her camp, and a mysterious figure running after them, and in the shadows, Nakia could see him stab them with a long sword. Not knowing if she was still dreaming, Nakia closed her eyes and reopend them, but the visions stayed. Nakia watched the scene from a distance, able to see what was going on because of the flat plains. Within a couple minutes, the figure had slaughtered all of the Urgals. Once he pulled his sword out from the final Urgal he started heading back to where Nakia was still sitting.

_Oh my gosh! He..she...it's coming back!_ She thought, panicked. She cowered in her blankets, not knowing what to do. The thing came closer and closer until he was close enough that Nakia could see details. He was a boy who looked a few years older then Nakia. 16 mayabe 17. He had long, shaggy, jet black hair and electric blue eyes, and was very hansome. He was quite tall and muscular and had a long thin sword shealthed at his hips. He walked closer and then knelt down next to Nakia.

"Are you ok?" he asked her. She nodded her head. As far as she could tell she hadn't been harmed, but now that she thought about it, her neck was a little sore. Had she really been choked by the Urgals like in her dream?

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Aden," he replied.

"Oh," she said. "My name's Nakia, but what are you doing here? Not that I'm not grateful for you helping me..."

"I was sleeping not too far from here, I too am traveling, and I heard somebody screaming, so I came over here and saw the Urgals. They were surronding you and you were still asleep, so I attacked them." Nakia blushed red. She hadn't known she was screaming, and even worse, that she was screaming so loud.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Not a problem." The two of them sat there akwardly for a second and then he spoke again. "Do you even have a sword? Or a bow?"

"No," she said, feeling a little stupid.

"And no horse?"

"No." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Out of curiosity, where are walking to unarmed?"

"I was heading for Uru'Baen. I couldn't stay in my hometown, Yazuac. The Urgals attacked it...they killed everybody but me, because I had hidden..." After telling the story Nakia bursted into tears. Feeling akward Aden just sat there for a second, but then patted her on the back comfortingly. After a few minutes she stopped and wiped away her tears, feeling like a fool. "I'm sorry..."

"It's ok. That has to be terrible...So you're just going to walk alone to Uru'Baen?" She nodded her head yes. "If you want, I could come with you. I was heading in that direction anyways. I could at least assist you there. You'd be a lot safer." Nakia was shocked. She had just met Aden and he was offering to take her to Uru'Baen? But what other choice did she have? She obviously couldn't defend herself, and she would be a lot less lonley if she had someon traveling with her. After considering it, she decided to go with him.

"Ok."

"Great...oh, and I promise you, I'm not some kind of murder or whatever. I am trustworthy," he assured her. The thought had never even occured to her. She just hoped that she could take his word for it, exspecially after he saved her from the Urgals.

"Alright, but I've got to stop in Daret before we head for Uru'Baen, is that ok?" she asked.

"That's fine," he said with a smile. "Well I'm going to get my stuff at my camp. I'll be back in a few minutes." As he left for his things, Nakia fell back asleep. When Aden came back he admired her beauty as she slept. Her long, dirty blonde hair curled around her shoulders and her skin was flawless except for the trail of freckles dotted across her nose, which made her look even cuter. But then Aden shook the thoughts out of his mind. He could not get involved with her. He was just to get her safely to Uru'Baen, and then he had to go. He still needed to search the prisons for Arya, the elf who had dissapeared on the crossing to the Beor Mountains.

When the Queen of Ellesmera found out about this, they had sent Aden out to search for her. He was one of Ellesmera's strongest and most skilled soilders there. He sighed and unrolled his blankets and layed down looking up at the sky and all of the beautiful stars twinkling above. He pulled his long hair behind his ears to reveal a pair of long, pointed, elven ears.

**Gasps! haha, another short chapter, I know, but oh well, I'll make sure to make it longer next time. Well, I'm going on vacation for awhile, so I won't be able to update for about a week. I better have some comments when i get back! haha, just kidding, But please do comment!**


	3. The Truth

**Thanks for the reviews! I'll try to make this chapter longer, I know they've been pretty short so far.**

Aden woke up early the next morning before Nakia woke up and grabbed his bow and went out to hunt breakfast. It was about ten minutes later when he spotted a small doe laying in the grass. He quietly snuck up on it, strung his bow, and aimed. The doe immediatly fell over as the arrow stuck out from it's body. Aden walked over to it, picked up it's body and carried it back to camp.

When he got back to the clearing he found Nakia awake, sipping from the waterskin. He quickly untucked the hair and let it fall, covering his ears. Nakia looked up as he approached and Aden saw her big, green eyes. He, obviously, hadn't noticed them last night while she was sleeping, and they were simply stunning. He just gazed at her for a moment but then stopped when she spoke.

"Oh, good. I was getting pretty hungry," she said seeing the dead doe. "I"ll start up the fire." So she walked out of the clearing to look for firewood.

_Why does he keep starring at me?_ she thought as she picked up broken limbs from the ground. _Maybe letting him come with me was a big mistake...although he did save my life..._Thinking this she rubbed her fingers against her neck where she had small bruises where the Urgals had strangled her. She shook all thoughts of this out of her head and told herself that once she was in Uru'Baen, she wouldn't be traveling with him anymore. She walked back to camp with a handful of broken branches. Arranging the sticks, she attempted to start a fire, but failed everytime. Frustrated, she kicked the pile of wood and stomped away.

"Here, let me try," said Aden. He rearranged the sticks and made sure Nakia wasn't looking and then whispered, "Brisingr!" A fire quickly crawled into the flames.

"Wow," said Nakia, astonished. _How did he do that?_ she thought to herself, but didn't ponder on the thought long. She began to strip the dead doe into cookable pieces, and then roasted them over the fire. Once she was done she split the food with Aden and they ate in silence. After he was done eating, Aden threw a bucket of water on top of the fire, extinguishing it, and packed up their things.

Aden climbed onto his horse after everything was secured and motioned for Nakia to join him. She hesitated at first. She hadn't riden a horse for a very long time, and was self concious about riding with Aden, but then clambered on behind him. As he took off Nakia held onto him tightly, feeling all them musceles beneath his shirt. Wow, he was strong!

For severel hours they rode alongside the river, only stopping for a quick lunch. By nightfall they were just a mile or two outside the gates of Daret. The two unrolled their blankets and cooked some more meat for supper. The two sat akwardly, just eating in silence until Nakia finally spoke.

"So, where are you from originally?" Aden panicked. What should he say? He obviously couldn't tell her that he was an elf and was from Ellesmera, the elven capital.

"Ceunon," he replied, using the first city that came to mind. Nakia nodded and continued to eat, not trying to start up anymore conversation. After they were done, Aden cleaned up the fire.

"We should probably take turns keeping watch," said Nakia as she looked out onto the horizon. She thought she'd seen some figures in the distance, but she was tired and figured her eyes were playing tricks on her. "You know, just incase." Aden nodded in agreement and offered to take the first watch. So Nakia layed down on her blankets and was immediatly asleep. Aden sat a few feet away from her, fully alert. Every now and then he would look down at Nakia as she slept. She looked so peaceful, her hair falling just a little over her face.

When Aden heard a distinct grunt in the distance he shot straight up, hair on his back prickling. He squinted his eyes, trying to see. He saw the small prick of a fire less then a mile away. He unshealthed his sword as he stood up silently. Torn between going there to see who (or what) it was, and staying there to protect Nakia, he finally decided to quickly see if the people proved any threat.

Not making a sound, Aden sprinted over to the camp. As he got closer he could see two people leaping around the fire with sticks, apparently sparring, and an undistinguishable figure next to them. He crawled a bit closer, hiding behind a bush.

The first person sparring was a young boy, just a bit younger then Aden, and was doing quite poorly. The other was an older man with a long, flowing beard who was easily defeating the boy. As Aden looked closer, he could see that the large lump was a sparkling blue dragon.

_A dragon!_ Aden said to himself. So that meant one of them had to be a Rider. He assumed it was the younger boy, because the dragon still looked fairly young. Once the pair were done sparring, Aden decided it was best to start heading back to Nakia. He kept low as he walked back to camp, just incase the boy or old man saw him.

Aden knew that Arya had been taking a dragon egg to the Varden when she dissapeared, but was that the same dragon? He didn't know what to believe, and didn't know if the old man and Rider were a threat to him and Nakia, but decided to move quickly and get to Uru'Baen as soon as possible.

When he got back to camp he was relieved to see Nakia still asleep where he left her, unharmed. He almost hated to wake her up, she looked so peaceful, but he was exhausted and needed to sleep too. So he gently shook her shoulders and she took the second watch.

The next morning they ate a quick breakfast and once again packed their stuff. An hour later they found themselves infront of the gates of Daret. They cautiously rode in to Daret. Once they reached the center of town they were quickly surronded by soilders, all swords and arrows pointing at them.

"What are ya doin' here?" asked one of the soilders as Aden requested they lowered their weapons.

"We just stopped in for supplies," replied Aden. The soilder lowered his bow. Once Aden told them what they needed, they fetched it for them.

"Sorry 'bout that," said the soilder as the supplies arrived. "Just pre-caution." Nakia then realized that she had planned on stealing a horse from Daret, and a sword too. A guilty wave came over her. The only thing she could think of was to ask Aden for a loan, although this made her feel even guiltier.

"Um, Aden?" she whispered into his ear. "I, uh. I need a horse...and a sword if possible. Do you think it'd be possible if I could borrow some money? I swear I'll pay if back just as soon as-" Aden cut her off.

"Could we also have the best sword you have? And a horse too." Aden asked the soilder. They once again departed to get him what he'd asked for.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll want your own horse," Aden replied, although he had to silently admit to himself that he would miss having her holding onto him. A few minutes later a soilder walked back to them, the reins of a beautiful black stallion in one hand, and a long sharp sword in the other. Aden paid them some more money and Nakia mounted the stallion. They were escorted out of town and the gates immediatly shut behind them. Nakia fondly stroaked the stallions mane as they began to ride away from Daret.

"He's beautiful," she cooed. Aden smiled.

"I'm glad you like him," he replied. Together they rode towards Uru'Baen.

"So, why exactactlly are you going to Uru'Baen?" Aden asked Nakia.

"Well, once the Urgals attacked Yazuac, I decided the best thing to do would be to tell King Galbatorix about it. You know, so he could kill the Urgals that did it." Aden had now stopped, horrified.

"No!" he exclaimed. Nakia stopped next to him now confused. "You can't go to the Empire! Galbatorix doesn't care about the Urgal attacks. He's the one that started them! If you go there, he'll kill you. Your a wittness. He won't want you to go blabbing." Nakia just stood there, starring at him. She couldn't believe what he was saying.

"How...how do you know all of this?" she finally stuttered. Aden siged, looking at the ground. Should he tell her the truth? Well, now he didn't really have a choice.

"I'm an elf," he said. "Part of the Varden." Nakia starred. mouth wide open. She had heard about elves and the Varden, but didn't know that elves were actually _part_ of the Varden. As she pondered this, Aden tucked his hair back behind his pointy ears. When Nakia saw this she gasped.

"You really are an elf!" she exclaimed. He nodded. Nakia stood there for a few minutes of silence, then suddenly sprinted away on her horse, leaving Aden in the dust.

**Yay, that chapter was a bit longer. Well, please review!**


	4. Stories and Lies

**Thanks for the reviews! Just to let you know, Eragon and all them might not come into the picture again for awhile..Real short chapter, and couldn't think of a very good title so, oh well, hope you like it!**

Nakia sprinted away on her horse. She didn't know where she was going, or even why she left, but she did, and she didn't stop.

_He's an elf! He lied to me all this time!_ Nakia thought panickly.

She stopped for a brief moment and looked behind her. She saw that Aden had began chasing her and was not too far behind. Nakia quietly cursed and took off agian, but it was no use. Aden was much more skilled at riding and his horse much faster. In a matter of minutes they were side by side but Nakia didn't stop, hoping that she could eventually out run him, or he would stop.

"Nakia! Stop! I need to talk to you!" Aden yelled as they ran into the distance. Figuring that she could never escape him, she slowed up and Aden stopped behind her. He dismounted his horse and approached Nakia as she did the same.

"You lied to me," she said quietly before he had a chance to say anything.

"I know," he said, talking to the ground. "But I didn't think you would trust me if I hadn't and-" Nakia cut him off.

"Well you were right! I don't trust you! Not anymore. I was suspicious when you were just a human! But now..." Nakia didn't finish her sentance.

"I was just trying to keep you safe until you made it to Uru'Baen. I didn't know what you were going to do. I didn't think you needed to know.." Aden nearly whispered after a few minutes of silence. "I'm sorry." Nakia looked straight at him with cold eyes. After severel minutes of silence she spoke agian.

"Well what are you doing out here anyway?"

Relieved that she didn't sound as angry, Aden explained. "An elf by the name of Arya was captured while trying to go to the Vaden's hiding spot. I was sent to search the prisons and if I couldn't find her, I was to go to the Varden and report it to them." Nakia just stood as response.

Wordlessly she turned back to her horse. Aden thought she was going to ride away again, but she was just pulling out their supplies.

"What are you doing?" he questioned her as she began to build a fire.

"Setting up camp. It's almost dark." As she rolled out their blankets Aden began to cook the meat he had handed her. They silently ate the meat and cleaned up.

After dinner was done, Nakia layed ontop of her blankets and took out the sword that Aden had bought her and began to examine it. It was beautiful, and just the perfect size for her. The blade and handle were silver, but the outline of the handle was bejewled with tiny rubies. She couldn't believe that she was lucky enough to own something so wonderful. Realizing that the only reason she did was because Aden had bought it for her, her anger toward him soften a bit.

Once she was done looking at it, she shealthed it and hid it in her bag. She looked over and saw Aden starring at her.

"Thank you," she said, not knowing what else to say. He nodded in acknoledgment and doused the fire with a bucket of water he'd gotten from a creek not to far away. Nakia curled up in her blankets and starred up at the stars, not able to fall asleep. She looked over to see Aden doing the same thing. Apparently he couldn't sleep either.

"What was she doing when she got caught?" Nakia asked, the first words she spoke sense dinner. Aden jumped about, shocked to hear her talk but then quickly replied.

"You mean Arya?"

"Yeah."

"Well..." he started. Should he tell her the truth? He still didn't know if he could trust her. But he soon realized that if he wanted her to trust him, he'd have to. "Awhile ago the Varden stole one of the dragon eggs that the Empire had been guarding." Nakia interupeted him.

"Wait a second. _Dragons?_ I've heard stories about them, but I didn't know that they actually existed!" Aden simply nodded and continued with his story.

"After the egg was stolen it was taken to the Varden in hopes that somebody there would become the next Rider. But the elves thought they should also be given a chance to have one of their people become a Rider. So then they came to an agreement. Each year the egg would be taken between Ellesmera, the elven city, and the Varden.

"The Queen of Ellesmera decided that Arya, a female, elven soilder, could transport the egg, protecting it. So each year she'd send her and two guards to the Varden and back, but the egg never opend for anyone. Then one time Arya was heading out from Ellesmera to the Varden, but she never came to the Varden. She just dissapeared.

"But the Queen seems to think that she was kidnapped by Empire's soilders because severl weeks after the Varden reported she was gone, soilders were found near Ellesmera. So she sent me out to search the prisons. That's all I know."

Nakia nodded her head. And began to lay down again when another thought came to her.

"What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm obviously not going to Uru'Baen anymore, but I can't go back home. I have no where to go," she said sadly. Aden felt sorry for her. He, too, would be depressed if he had been the only person in all of Ellesmera that had survied. Although, if Urgals had attacked Ellesmera, they probably would have been able to defend theirselves.

"Well...if you want you can come to the Varden with me, they'll probably take you in." She nodded, considering this. If Galbatorix really had been the person who set the Urgals on Yazuac, then joining the Varden was the best thing for her, and was the best way to get her revenge.

"But won't I have to go around all of Alagaesia to search the prisons with you?"

"Well, I don't think I would have to go to all of the prisons anymore. I think I have information that the Varden will want much more then Arya," he said.

"And what's that?"

"I think I know what happend to the dragon egg. I think that before she was captured Arya sent the egg somewhere, and it hatched."

"How do you know this?" asked Nakia, suspicious. Aden sighed, realizing that he'd have to reveal seeing the dragon that one night. So he told Nakia the story. She simply whispered, "Wow," after he was done.

"So it's settled, we'll head for the Varden," Nakia said as she curled up in her blankets, suddenly exhausted.

_I'm going to the Varden. I'll battle against Galbatorix. _Were her last thoughts before she fell asleep.

Severel hours after Aden and Nakia had fallen asleep, Aden woke up, suddenly alert. The snap of a twig in the distance had awoken him, and he was now scanning the horizon to see who (or what) it was.

He suddenly felt an arrow hit him in the back of his neck and he fell back over, faint from the pain...

The next morning Nakia woke up and looked over at where Aden had been asleep. But he wasn't there. Asssuming he'd gone to hunt or something, she simply sat up and started to roll up her blankets.

Severel hours later Aden hadn't returned to camp and Nakia had curled up in a ball, very worried. It was then that she realized Aden wasn't coming back.

**Ooh...haha, well kinda of a short chapter...please review!**


	5. Captured

**Just a quick authors note: Thanks for the reviews! And sorry about the spelling but there's nothing I can do about it...**

Aden slowly cracked open an eye as he regained conciousness. He was drowsy and couldn't remember anything. He tried to sit up but quickly found out that he couldn't. As he turned his head around and looked to his sides he almost jumped up (although he really couldn't). He was tied down by many ropes and was flying. Flying very high and very fast. The ground was so far below them Aden became nausious just looking at it.

As he turned his head up as far as it would go he saw that he was strapped on a large, bizarre, flying, steed. The...thing only had two legs ending with clawed feet, long, sharp talons coming out from them.

The creature also had wings. They were very large; probably a wingspan of about 15 feet. The wings were covered in lots of feathers of electric blue and death black. The face of the didn't look anything like the rest of the body though.

The face was a bit of a cross between a human and a fox. It had large front teeth, but were actually quite sharp. The eyes of the thing looked human, except for they were a sickly yellow color. The ears were strangly pointed, almost like an elf's, except for they were, odly furry.

The creatures, overall, were hidious. Aden had never seen anything like it and, frankly, didn't ever want to see one again. But for the moment he didn't have much of a choice, seeing as he was strapped on very tightly.

It was just now that he realized something else was riding upon the strange steed. It was mostly covered in a long, black cape and was facing forward so Aden couldn't see it's face. It's hands, however, could be seen holding the reins for the strange beast. They were scaly and green tinted, a sight that made Aden shiver.

Suddenly, Aden's memory returned.

_I was shot by an arrow. The arrow made me pass out and these...things kidnapped me...Oh no! Nakia is still at the camp! _Panic suddenly washed over Aden. Was Nakia still ok?

A thought suddenly reached Aden. Because he was an elf, he could use magic. And that meant that he could try and contact Nakia with his mind. He doubted he had enough energy for this, but it was worth a shot.

He began to focus on Nakia and only Nakia. He then found the nub of magic in his mind and made the contact to Nakia.

After waiting severel hours for Aden to come back Nakia faced the fact that he wouldn't be coming back. She quickly packed up the supplies and took off on her horse, leading Aden's horse along with her.

She tried moving as quickly as possible, not wanting to stick around incase the things that attacked Aden decided to come back for her. As she rode her thoughts lead to Aden. Where could he be? What happend? Deep inside Nakia was breaking down. Because she knew that without him she had no chance. And without him she felt very lonley.

She was severel miles away from where she had camped the night before when a sudden pain hit her. She had to stop the horses as she could not ride anymore.

_Nakia, it is Aden, are you ok?_ Nakia was confused beyond reason. Was she hearing things or was Aden talking to her?

_Aden? How are you talking to me? Where are you?_

_I don't know where I am, or who captured me. I'm flying somewhere though. And because I can use magic, I can talk to you._ Nakia nodded in understanding, but then noticed that he couldn't see her nodding.

_What should I do?_

_Go to the Varden. They are your only hope of survival. And they'll be able to help you find me._

_But I don't know where the Varden is!_

_Continue going southeast towards the Hadarac Desert. Cross the corner of the desert and head towards the Beor Mountains. Once your in the mountains keep heading east. There will be a narrow vally, go through it. At the end is lake. Go up to the mountain across the waterfall and state your purpose of being there. After that the Varden will take care of you._

Nakia did her best to remember all of this.

_I talk any longer. My magic is low and I am weak. Good luck Nakia. Sta_that _y safe._ And then Nakia felt a sudden absence in her mind and she knew he was gone.

She quickly took out her map of Alagaesia and rolled it out. She assumed they were just a little ways outside of Daret.

As she charted out where Aden told her to go she gasped. It looked forever and ever to the Hadarac Desert, and after that she still had to travel through the Beor's, which weren't even marked on the map. It would be an achingly long journey, but Aden was in danger and Nakia wasn't going to let him die.

So she quickly mounted her hourse and guided Aden's along with her.

For hours and hours Aden just sat and stared up at the sky as the...things flew the bizarre monsters across the sky. The things didn't say a word to Aden and didn't even seem to notice that he was awake, which was fine with him. He assumed that if they did he would be shot with another arrow, as they were slung across their backs.

The sun started to fall in the horizon, leaving faint colors of gold and red with it. The things guided the creatures down and they landed roughly on the ground.

Aden was able to swerve his head around so he could see that they were now standing infront of large gates leading to a city. The thing got off of the creature and quickly untied Aden, leting him fall to the ground. He straightend himself up and gasped at what he saw.

Under the hoods of the cloaks were the Ra'zac. Aden had heard stories of them in Ellesmera, and knew that they were dangerous. Under the hoods were enlongated beaks and beady eyes.

"Weeellcome to Gil'ead," one of the Ra'zac said with a slur. "Make yourself att home, you will not be leaving." A shrill laugh erupted from them, sending shivers down Aden's spine.

They handcuffed his wrist to theirs and lead him inside the city gates.

It was late at night, so not many people were still out in the streets, but those who were gave Aden and the Ra'zac suspicious looks.

Through the streets the Ra'zac guided Aden until they were in front of a prison.

Aden's heart filled with dread as the Ra'zac guided him down severel staircases until they were in the bottom most floor. And without a word they shoved him carelesly into a cell and slammed the door behind him.

"Enjoyy," stuttered the Ra'zac as they walked away, leaving Aden very alone, and very hungry (he hadn't anything to eat sense dinner last night). He leaned against the bars of the cell as if they would just swing open by themself. As he did this he peered out of his cell and into the cell in the far corner.

He gasped.

It was Arya. She looked extremely thin. Bruises and cuts covered every inch of visable body. She was sleeping fitfully.

Aden sunk back into a cornor of his cell feeling very stupid and defeated.

_Well,_ he thought sullenly to himself, _at least I found her. Too bad I got caught in the process._

After severel hours had passed Aden finally drifted into a fitful sleep.

_The next day in Uru'Baen..._

King Galbatorix sat at his throne, hands crossed and eyes narrowed. The Ra'zac sat infront of him, avoiding his glare. Finally he spoke.

"There was a girl with the elf?"

The Ra'zac nodded.

"And you let her get away?" The Ra'zac simply shrunk back in their seats in fear. "Do you realize what he might of told her? What she might know?"

"We're veeeery sorry," slurred one of the Ra'zac.

"Just make sure you find her! Find her and kill her," snapped Galbatorix.

**Uh oh! Haha, please review.**


	6. Help From a Stranger

**Sorry it took so long to update! But I've been soooo busy lately. Oh, btw, from here on the story won't follow the Eragon plot line entirely.**

Nakia was fleeing for the Varden, faster then she'd ever gone in her life. About a week after Aden contacted her last, she was just a little outside of Uru'Baen, next to the Ramr River.

Exhausted and starving (as her horse was, too) Nakia stopped for the day. She set up her camp and leaned against a rock taking a long swig of water from her waterskin as she rested. After she was done eating her dinner of dried meat and bread, she allowed her horse (who she named after Rohan, her father) to drink the rest of the water and refilled them in the Ramr.

After she put out the fire and rolled out her blankets she fell asleep.

Dreams of Aden crept into her mind. He was being held captive, tortured, until he had no choice but to give up, and was dead. Nakia shot up from her sleep, drenched in sweat and trembling.

_It was just a dream, _she told herself. _Aden will be ok..._

The sun was now starting to rise in the sky, so Nakia decided to start packing up and continue.

She rolled up her blankets and packed away the supplies she had used last night. After a quick breakfast of bread, she was ready to go. She loaded everything on Rohan.

After a few hours they were at the gates of Uru'Baen.

"What is your business in Uru'Baen?" asked the guard looking down on her.

"I am just here for supplies." He rolled up the gate and allowed Nakia to pass through.

Nakia was amazed at the size of Uru'Baen. She had never been to a city so huge before. But big as it was, it was a dreary city. Houses were run down and the homeless simply sat on the street looking extremely ill and exhausted. And all houses, shops, everything, seemed to circle around one thing: Galbatorix's castle.

Looking at it sent chills down Nakia's spine.

It twisted tall and high, painted a deep black. Guards surronded it, all heavily armed. But Nakia turned her eyes from it and to the gate and guards infront of her. But Nakia turned away and focused on getting her supplies.

Down the street a bit was a market. Nakia tied Rohen to a post and proceeded in.

She quickly stepped into the store. But as she looked around she realized: She had no money. She assumed her only choice was to steal the food. She felt bad just thinking about it, but it had to be done.

So quickly, when nobody was looking, Nakia grabbed a few loaves of bread, fresh and dried vegtables and some thick strips of meat, concealing them in her clothing (this food would have to last her across the Hadarac Desert, so she took as much as possible).

She tried to conceal the parts that were slightly bumpy from the stolen goods, and made her way back outside. Quickly, she loaded the supplies into Rohen's saddle bags.

Nakia unknoted the rope the bound Rohen to the pole. Next she was going to head to the carts parked down the street; they held many diffrent objects, and Nakia was hoping she could find some gloves to steal, her hands were getting large cauluses from riding so much.

But then, further down the street she saw two large, black hooded figures. Something about them made Nakia feel uneasy, so instead she rode Rohen to the city gates as fast as she could.

As she waited for the gates to be rolled up she turned back behind her. The hooded things had spotted her and were running (well, it looked more like gliding) towards her. As soon as the gates opened she urged Rohen to dash beneath them and she galloped southward, taking the path to the Varden once again.

She rode on for about an hour before she stopped. She dismounted Rohen and was about to start lunch, but in the distance she could see horses coming towards her. And, to her horror, she saw that riding them were the two hooded figures.

She climbed back on Rohen and dashed away once more. _Did they see her steal the food? Was this something to do with Aden? (He had mentioned some kind of hooded thing...)_. Nakia didn't know what they wanted, and she didn't want to stick around to find out.

She pushed Rohen onward, not stopping. Every now and then she turned around, but the hooded figures were still following her, and they were gaining.

It was getting later now. Dusk would be upon them soon. Nakia could tell the Rohen was getting tierd, but pushed on. The hooded things did not stop, even though they had now crossed into the Hadarac Desert.

It was hot and dry, even as the sun began to set, and Nakia was in desperate need of water, but still did not stop. The things still did not cease and were getting even closer. In an hour or less they could overcome her...

The hooded things were now dangerously close. Only about ten feet behind Nakia. She attempted to urge Rohen to go faster, but he was too tired; it was almost completely black outside.

A few minutes later, Rohen's pace slowed down and the things were side by side with Nakia. She saw them pull out long swords and held them high in the air as they rode. Nakia pulled hers out as well. One of them was about to strike, but Nakia got there first. She hit it in the side as hard as possible and quickly pulled on Rohen's reins, making him stop abrubtly.

The things continued onward for a few more seconds, then weiled their horses back around.

_Oh no. What could she do now?_

She stood up straight on Rohen as they approached. They raised their swords once more and Nakia flinched slightly.

_So this was it...This was how it would end..._Because Nakia knew she could not take on these two. She was a poor fighter, and the one that she had hit early didn't seem badley wounded at all...

The were getting closer. Ten feet away now. Any second...

Suddenly a large saphire dragon fell from the sky between Nakia and the hooded figures.

Nakia almost fell off of Rohen, shocked by surprise. And apparently the things were dumbfounded also, as they did not move at all.

This distraction worked well, and the hooded figures did not notice two more men attack in the distance. Two arrows whistled through the sky and hit each of the things. They gave out an shill screach and turned around. As they did so, the men galloped closer, swords drawn up.

They charged at the hooded figures, flinging their swords through the air. They succesfully hit the things most times, but the hooded creatures also hit them, causing one to fall of his horse. He fell onto the ground, not moving. The hooded thing had his sword raised, about to finish the job when the other man charged at him, yelling and flung his sword through the creature's body.

It immediatly fell to the ground, blood spurting from it, sword sticking out from it's body.

The other hooded creature then advanced on the other man. At first it seemed he was fleeing, as he had no sword and was taking off in the distance. But then a few more arrows whistled through the night sky.

Nakia could hear something fall over. So one of them was dead...But before Nakia could advance to see what happend, an arrow caught in her shoulder and she immediatly fell over off Rohen.

**Hoped you liked that! It was kinda short but, oh well...Please review!**


	7. Mysterious Man

**Haha, started writing this when I noticed I was using the wrong name for Nakia, haha, so if it says Kaida somewhere, it means Nakia, and tell me so I can fix it. Oh, and I finally got Microsoft Word to work, so now I have spell check! And none of you can complain! hehe**

Nakia's conscious returned to her and she slowly cracked her eyes open. She was lying on her side on the hard desert dirt. Somewhere around her a fire was burning, she could smell the strong scent of ash and burning wood.

_What happened?_ Nakia's head ached, along with her arm. As she brushed a hand against the bloody wound there, she remembered. She had been hit with an arrow...And there were those creepy hooded creatures...and the two men and dragon that rescued her...

She slowly sat up and looked around.

Sure enough, a fire was set up a yard or so away from Kaida and hunched around it were the two men, but there was no dragon. As she sat up, one of the men took notice and nudged the other.

"How are you feeling?" one of them asked her as he walked forward. She slowly nodded her head yes. As he checked her pulse, Nakia noticed a large silvery oval on his palm.

_Strange..._thought Nakia.

After he was done, he turned back to a pot hanging over the fire. It was then that Kaida noticed the wonderful smell coming from it.

_Good, I'm starving._

She just sat there for a few minutes, trying her best to remember everything that happened. As she did this, she failed to notice that the other man was staring at her the whole time. As he noticed she saw him staring he quickly looked back into the fire.

Nakia shrugged it off and attempted to stand up, but was nauseous so she sat back down.

"Don't worry, just sit right there and I'll bring you some soup," said the one man with the oval scar. She did as she was told and sat down, absentmindedly tracing a circle in the dirt.

A few minutes later the man walked up to her with a bowl of delicious soup and handed it to her. She took it gratefully and began to eat. He simply looked at her for a second, and then sat down across from her.

"My name is Eragon. Do you remember anything about last night?" Nakia stopped slurping her soup and looked at him, pondering what all happened last night, and finally answered.

"Yes...a little bit. There were those…those, hooded things and they were chasing me…and then you and that other guy came in and saved me…and I was shot with an arrow. But that's it. Everything else is fuzzy…" Eragon looked a bit relieved to hear this, but simply nodded and let her go back to eating her soup.

For awhile they simply sat there together, Kaida eating her soup and Eragon staring up at the sky.

"They're called the Ra'zac. Those things that were chasing you," Eragon spoke. Nakia was done with her soup so she sat down her bowl and looked up at Eragon, as if he were going to continue on with a story.

When he didn't Nakia said, "What are they?"

Eragon sighed and tore his eyes away from the deep sky. "They are not human, if that is what you mean. They are some sort of creature, and they feast on human blood and flesh. But I do not know why they would be chasing you, unless you are an enemy of the King."

This was more of a question then a comment, and he starred at Nakia curiously, and she just stared back.

He finally broke the staring contest and gestured to the other man. "This is Murtagh; he's been traveling with me. It is his fault for the arrow in your arm. He didn't trust you, unfortunately…" He gave Murtagh a stern look as he said this. Murtagh simply looked away and turned to a pile of blankets next to the fire. Nakia leaned closer and noticed that it was another person, whom she hadn't even noticed until now.

Eragon followed her gaze and said, "We rescued her from a prison in Gil'ead." But he said nothing more. He picked up Nakia's soup bowl and took it over to a pile of their supplies.

A yawn came from Nakia's mouth and she realized (even though she had just been asleep) she was exhausted. Murtagh noticed this and spoke for the first time. "Here are some blankets. We'll wake you in the morning." And with that Nakia rolled up in the blankets staring at the blank desert sky. And began to think about Eragon, who had been very vague about…everything. _He's a mysterious man…_

Aden turned fitfully in his sleep. A few days ago someone had broken into the castle and they captured Arya. The information Aden had about this break in was very vague. Apparently one of the prisoners escaped with somebody, and they took the unconscious Arya with them.

Security in the castle had nearly been doubled, guard parading around the halls, not leaving one prisoner without a careful eye watching. Plus the sleeping medicine dosage had been made higher. Thankfully, Aden was an elf and the drug took a bit longer to affect him.

But what worried Aden the most was the rumors he heard the guards talking about. Apparently each day Arya had been given a deadly poison, and then later the antidote. But she never got the antidote, and the poison was still in her system. Which meant there was a very fine line between life and death for Arya.

**I know this was short, and not really any cliffhangers but…oh well. Hope you all liked it. And REVIEW! I'm getting hardly any.**


	8. The Great Escape

**So sorry it took so long, but I just...didnt' feel like writing I guess...**

Cold sweat dripped down Aden's body and he turned fitfully in his sleep. Terrifying nightmares...war...death.

"NO! Arya! Come back...come back..." A sudden clang forced him to sit straight up in his cold cell. Outside the iron bars was a guard, as usual, pacing down the hallway. Aden was about to fall back asleep when the slow creak of his door awoke his senses. He slowly shifted his eyes up toward the door. Standing there was the guard.

"Are you coming or not?" asked the guard in a rough, brute tone. Aden was still drowsy and confused. The guards words slurred together and his mind buzzed. "I'm leaving. Now. You can escape too, but we don't have long, I'm supposed to switch duty in 20 minutes." Aden shook off the sleep and stood up. "That's what I thought," said the guard with a grin as he turned out the door and started down the hallway.

Aden hesitated for a second. He didn't know if this was a trap, or if this man really was here to help him, but then he figured, now was the time to take chances, and he didn't have much of a choice. He quickly left his cell and followed the guard. Left, right, winding staircase, left corridor, turn right again, Aden lost track of where he was being led, but the guard seemed to know exactlly where he was going.

He stopped abruptly infront of a large wooden door. He motioned for Aden to stay quiet as he leaned against the door, listening to see if someone was on the other side. Apparently someone was on the other side, because he slowly slid down to the ground and pulled Aden up against the wall. They waited, waited, waited. Finally the door was pushed open and a guard passed through. Aden hoped that he could not see them in the shadows.

The guard that was guiding Aden crept up behind the other man quietly, cautiously and slowly pulled out a dagger. Swiftly and silently the man was stabbed and his body fell to the stone floor. Aden's guide moved quickly down the hallway, but Aden first stopped to look at the corpse. Sorrow flashed in his heart for a second, but then realized this was his chance out and rushed to catch up with the mysterious guard.

Just a few more corridors and down a staircase Aden and the guard were in the castle's stables. The guard searched behind one of the feed barrels, pulling out a few packs holding food, blankets and water. He motioned for Aden to help him and together they calmed two horses enough to saddle them up strap the supplies on their backs.

The guard started to lead Aden to the exit that led to the city when Aden paused at the gate.

"What are you doing?" whispered the guard. "They'll have noticed that your gone in a little bit, we must leave now." Aden shook off all feelings of uncertainty and mounted the horse. Together they fled through the city and the guard led the horses to an unguarded backgate. The guard dismounted his horse and yanked the pulley, but nothing budged. Beads of sweat began to roll down his forhead as he tried to lift it. Then he looked to Aden with disbelief.

"Well, your an elf! Help already!" _Oh..._Aden hadn't realized he knew he was an elf, but it made no diffrence, with his help the bridge rolled up high enough for them to escape. Once the horses and the guard was on the other side, Aden let go of the pulley and dove under the gate before it slammed shut.

The two mounted their horses when they heard a siren sound from the castle. The guard cursed and cried, "Run! They'll be after us soon." The horses sped forward, out into the distance, toward the Varden.

Nakia was leaning against her horses neck, exhausted from the journey. They had been riding constantly toward the Varden. Eragon didn't want to stop and thought it was better to get there as fast as possible, a few days ago he had been able to speak to the women they had rescued (whose name they learned to be Arya) and learned that she had a fatal poisen in her bloodstream, and without the antidote, she would not survive for more then a week.

Nakia also noticed that the closer they got to the Varden, the more tense Murtagh became. He would rarely talk to anyone and seemed to be furious with Eragon. They were now somewhere deep in the Beor's mountain range. Nakia had always heard tales of the Beor's, but never ventured to guess how large they really were.

But it had been a few days sense they entered the Beor's, and Nakia was getting tired of the view. Snow, snow, and more snow. She slowly started to drift asleep...

"Urgals! Behind us!" Murtagh's urgent voice woke Nakia up.

"What?" she asked frantically.

"Urgals! Run!" Nakia went into shock, this being the second time Urgals were pursuing her. She jammed her heels into her horse's sides and quickly caught up with Murtagh and Eragon, who had already took off.

Strong winds whipped through the small valley they were riding in, tossing Nakia's hair and blurring her vision as her eyes began to water. On both sides of her she could hear Eragon and Murtagh urging their horses onward.

"They're catching up!" cried Eragon from Nakia's left. "We're not too far from the Varden, maybe we can make it." Nakia turned around briefly to catch a glimpse at the Urgals. He was right, they were closer then ever now, but if they could make it to the Varden or not, she did not know.

For hours they fled the monsterous army chasing them. The sun had now slipped beyond the tips of the mountain and Nakia was finding it hard to follow Eragon and Murtagh.

A soft, steady hum filled Nakia's ear. As they rode farther the hum became louder and more defiant. As they turned a ridge Nakia gaped at a large lake and a waterfall falling from somewhere beyond. Eragon and Murtagh had already rode ahead and were standing infront of a rock. Once Nakia aproached Eragon shook his head.

"This isn't the right spot, it's not opening!" Nakia began to panick, knowing that the Urgals were getting closer and closer as they stood there.

"Across the waterfall!" cried Murtagh over the roar. Her eyes bulged.

"Are you mad! We'll all be drowned!" Nakia said as he began to usher them towards it.

"No we won't! Would you rather be eaten by Urgals?"

Convinced, Nakia followed Eragon and Murtagh to the waterfall. First to go under was Murtagh, accompanied by the unconcious Arya. His horse collapsed immediatly under the pressure and gradually fought its way back up, just long enough to pass under the weight of the water.

Eragon nudged Nakia forward, but as he did she noticed that the Urgals were just barely away, and would be approaching the lake any minute now. Even through the waterfall she could hear the pounding of their feet.

With a frustrated push, Eragon ushered Nakia into the waterfall. A cold blanket of darkness pushed her down, the waterfall was too strong for her. Slowly she felt herself begin to slip under, water pounding on her head. Just as the last of her breath began to escape her, she felt a sudden shove to her side and opened her eyes to see Eragon pushing her across. On her other side she felt a tug and saw Murtagh pulling her through the rest of the way. Finally she escaped the waterfall's wrath and was safely on the other side. She took a gulp of air and choked up some water.

As Nakia looked back into the waterfall she saw Eragon struggling through. She was about to help him, as he had helped her, but from somewhere to her left a very small, stout man charged through, dragging Eragon out from the water.

Nakia simply stared, stumped, until Eragon and the small man pulled her and Murtagh toward a rock wall. But before they entered what Nakia assumed to be the secret entrance to the Varden, she saw a bright, gleaming blue creature erupt from the other side of the waterfall. A creature she had only heard of in old stories she never believed to be true.

**So so so so sorry I took so long, but oh well, here it is. Also, if you happen to be reading any of my other stories, I'm gonna pull A New Rider is Born, but I will most likely post it again. Anyways, review!**


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